<Nonpony><WIP> Zedd - Clarity (Orchestral Remix)

[ChocolateChicken]

http://soundcloud.com/stopeatingmywaffles/whoops-oh/s-UZeU4

Any feedback or critique you have would be greatly appreciated. I'd also like some advice on the mixing/mastering if you have any.

[CDPP]

The strings are drowning out her voice, you may want to lower the volume to prevent the two from competing with each other for space.
The string articulations seem rather dull, maybe you could put an lfo there to simulate vibrato?
The piano sounds like its right smack in the centre, perhaps you could pan it slightly to the left? (Iirc the piano is usually placed to the left of the conductor/solo instrument) Also, you should probably make full use of the orchestra, the woodwinds and brass would help the track stand out from your atypical orchestral arrangement too! (Imo turning this into a duet with an oboe would be interesting too :p)

[ChocolateChicken]

Yeah, mixing those sustained strings with her voice is the biggest problem I'm having with this. It's really hard to keep her voice prominent while also keeping the strings prominent as well. Frequency-wise, the vocals are between 200Hz and 5kHz, and those strings are in the exact same place. Would you or anyone else viewing this thread have any mixing advice for this? Ugh, it's times like these I wish I were Lavender Harmony.

As for the vibrato, there already is a slight vibrato on all the strings, minus the lower cellos, but I suppose more vibrato would be better. Would you suggest adding vibrato to all of the strings, or just the upper string sections? Also, I decided to leave the piano in the center because the piano is also playing the bass; perhaps I could keep the left hand (bass) in the center and then pan the upper keys.

Adding the full orchestra would be an amazing idea as well, good thing this is a WIP at the moment!

Thank you for the feedback, CDPPie!

Also, I noticed that this thread has gained quite a bit of attention according to the view count, for some reason. Would any of you lot viewing this song have any advice as well?

[Glitchhog]

Loving your choice of chords, not loving a couple others (namely the first; I think it could sound better if it were amended.) When the strings come in, the remix becomes quite powerful, which is a very, VERY good thing. The mixing needs a LOT of work, too much bass and her vocals are drowned out by the music. Overall though, I really enjoyed it and understand that it's still a WIP, so I'm not going to be too harsh on anything as a result. Basically, fix a couple chords here and there, tidy up the mixing/mastering and make sure her voice isn't in the background; it should be the focus of the piece! Good luck man, it's definitely sounding good.

Mind checking out my remix?

[colortwelve]

I really like this, aside from the technical hitches. It is in want of some good mixing, but like Glitchhog said, the chords are beautiful and harmonize wonderfully with the vocals.

On the subject of the strings, I'd say push your bass notes down by an octave to clear out a little bit of room for the vocals, or maybe just bump the whole thing up an octave. Definitely experiment with that. You may also try a little bit of sidechaining (not a lot, mind you, just enough to give your vocals the room they need without completely flattening the strings).

The piano sounds really dry to me, I'd try putting some reverb and/or delay on it to widen it up and make it sound less... dead.

And I'd consider adding more orchestral sections like CDP suggested... Hell, maybe tack on a flute solo at the end or something, because that would certainly lend character to this as a remix and not just an arrangement, and the whole thing could definitely benefit from some percussion... I think maybe some cymbal rolls near the chorus would add to building the tension that's definitely there, but not entirely fleshed out, and that would also be helpful in filling out your frequency spectrum. I'm also noticing that stuff around 200-300Hz is a little underrepresented, maybe EQ down that range by a tiny bit on your piano and add some low strings to fill out that range?

One last thing I noticed was that the vocals sound almost muffled... But that may be their lack of appropriate prominence in the mix. I dunno, just something I thought I heard.

Hope this helps, and I really look forward to hearing the finished product! :3

[ChocolateChicken]

Glitchhog: You mean you don't like the first chord or the first chord progression? As for the mixing, yeah mixing her voice with those strings is quite difficult in this case. As I said before, her voice and those strings are in the exact same frequencies, 200Hz - 5kHz, which makes it hard to work with, and I'm having trouble determining in which frequencies I should make cuts or reductions. And actually, you shouldn't feel the need to be less harsh on WIPs; I think they deserve more criticism and analysis than completed works. Thank you for the feedback, Glitchhog! And FINE, I'll check out your remix.

Colortwelve: I'm glad you like the chords! I was expecting people to criticize the first progression for sounding like I, V, VI, IV (which is isn't; it's actually I, III, VI, IV). Yeah, I'll probably end up moving the string bass down an octave, since it's really interfering with many other tracks in the latter section. And I always put reverb on pianos and strings, especially on acoustic songs like these. I just didn't do that before I posted this WIP as I was more concerned about other aspects of the song, such as the mixing and composition. Speaking of composition, adding more elements of the orchestra is definitely an awesome idea, as CDPPie also suggested. Thank you for your feedback, Colortwelve!